So the secret is out – many of Britain's young wine drinkers are nothing but a bunch of uneducated bluffers.

A YouGov poll conducted for Australian wine brand Rosemount found 48 per cent of 18-29-year-olds knew little about wine, and 27 per cent said they had winged it to impress the object of their affections.

Unflattering jokes in Old World wine countries about British youngsters enjoying "Coca-Cola wines" appear to be based on some truth from these statistics.

But the survey also shows there is plenty of room for the industry to put more resources into wine education.

The positive spin on Rosemount's survey is that a third of men and a quarter of women said they were keen to learn more about wine, and quite a few have already attended tasting sessions. It doesn't say whether they went back for more.

"These days men are increasingly interested in cooking and entertaining at home, which has led to much wider interest in wine and increased wine consumption both at home an in restaurants," said James Craig-Wood, Rosemount's wine expert.

Wine education has long been viewed as a good way of getting consumers to ditch the plonk and hit the higher priced bottles.

The London-based Wine & Spirit Education Trust announced last week it would produce wine DVDs to offer consumers and students an insider view of the wine world. These, it said, would supplement courses already running.

Ian Harris, of WSET, said the group's own research showed "conclusively that consumers were more likely to trade up both in the on- and off-premise when they have more extensive wine knowledge".

Value is becoming increasingly important on the UK wine market as the sector moves out of its initial 10-year boom and onto a slower, steadier growth pattern.

Education crusaders are up against it, however. Research from supermarkets, where more than three quarters of Britons buy their wine, shows people are spending less and less time on their shopping and least time of all in the alcohol aisles.

Wine consumers also appear rather fickle, with 43 per cent of sales attributed to promotions.

"I see people in front of the [wine] shelves looking terrified," said Angela Mount, an experienced wine buyer for the Somerfield retailer, at the recent Wine Evolution conference in Paris.

She said the industry must do more to make wine accessible. "We need to train them up and make their decisions easier."

And, on price, she added: "I don't think sufficient people are doing enough to get across to the consumer: 'this [bottle] is worth a lot more'."